Insect trap



Allg. l, 1939. B, JENNEmCH 2,167,978

INsEcT TRAP i A l Filed July 30, 1934 1N VE N T02 .5A L 7AJA 5A effsNNee/cw m ATTo 2 NEjv Patented A ug. `l, 19379 PATENT OFFICE flVINSEC'I' TRAP VBalthasar- ,Jennerich, Cologne, Germany Application July30,' 1934, Serial No. 731,493

In Germany August 2, 1933 Claims. A'

My invention relates to traps for house and kitchen vermin, moreparticularly of insects, such as cockroaches, blackbeetles and otherbeetles, Lthe legs of which are provided with 5,' cupules or cleavingballs.'

It is an object of my invention to design a type of trap speciallyadapted for use in connection with paralyzing insect powder i, e., achemical preparation which, while not necessarily poisonous, is capableof depriving the insects in question of their ability to move onvertical or 'inclined surfaces.

For the purpose of illustration only, the com- Y position of suchparalyzing insect powder, which l5 does not form part of my presentinvention, will.

also be described brieiiybelow, but no claims to it or to the methods''of its production'wiu be made.

It is usual -to destroy cockroaches, blackbeetles and similar insects bymeans of highly poisonous, such as for instance arsenious preparations,vbut such methods are highly objectionable bel cause of the dangerinvolved. 1 Another method consists in the use of so-called insectpowders, i. e. preparations obtained by drying and powerding certainherbs. Such preparations, while harmless to other animals, arespeciiically, though but slightly poisonous to insects. The action ofsuch powders is, however, la.

3Q slow one and-the insects are able .to escape to their hiding placeswhere they perish and decay. thus casing a bad smell and turning into akcontagious matter.- f

In both cases mentioned above it is of .no

v signicance whether the preparations are simply spread on the floor orp lacedin special insect traps. Anothermethod, consisting in llinglvessels .with a poisonous or sticky liquid is not eillcient 40 eitherbecause the insects may sinfrom'that liquidwithout losing their hold onthe walls of th'e vessel, vso that they may escape again.

My present invention is intended for Ause in connection with certainpowderypreparations,

t5V which may be styledparalyzing powders, which.

render the' cupules and cleaving'ballsof insect legs ineiective. f l

' Accordingly, house `and kitchen vermin climbing smooth steepsurfaces'not'by-means -of-claws,

'60 but with the ma of suchvcupmesand leavingY balls can be preventedfrom moving`on` and fro`m escaping to their hiding places without'resorting' .to poisonous preparations. The cleavlng balls,

cupules, etc., on the legsoi.' the insects becomecovered with a thinlayer of the powdery matter, and

(ci. ca -121),

shown in Fig. 1, the spittoon dish, however, be l0 ing'removed, and' aportion of the wick being broken away,

Fig 3 is a crosssectional view of another embodiment of the insect trap,taken online 3-3 0f Fis. 4,

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the'i'nsect trap shown in Fig. 3, f

' Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of still another embodiment oftheinsect trap, taken Aon line 5-5 of Fig. 6,

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the trapshown in Fig. 5, 'Y

Fig. Y"l is a cross-sectional view 'of a further embodiment of theinsect trap, taken on line 'I-'I of Fig. 8',and

Fig, 8 is`a-.top plan view of the insect trap shown in Fig. '7.- Thetrap shown in Figs. 1 and 2 consists of a basin iliade for instance ofearthenware with slanting and, if desired, roughend outer walls a, 30j

from which a smoothly inclined surfaceva' and a rounded glazed-portion bleads into a catching space lc. =The inclined surface a.' and the upperpart of the rounded portion b which together,V form a'nearly horizontaltrough and the catching $6 space k are .strewn over with my paralyzingV"powder h. Insects reaching the portion a' get their legs into the,powderand, even if they should want to turn back and iiee, cannot helpgliding unable to leave. Inthe middle of the trap, bordered by theprojecting c, there-is arranged a perforated receptacle g, containingthe bait. vwhich supports a plate i iilled with. water and ,Y plate iandthe inclined portion a' should. be about 1 centimeter in height so thatinsects climbing up the rimpf the trap may touch the plate i with Ytheir tentacles andfthus feel safe in nijoving' on.

In order to render thetrap still'more attractive I0 to `inse'cts,fwhichare usually very thirsty, there is a hollow space d providedthefportions a and b and lled'with water through the open-`- ings e.AWicksxu are in these openings e down into the catching space It, whichthey are 40" g as -a spittoom The space between the and these wicks yaswell as the'slanting outer IIIv surface of the wall alare covered withsome rough porous 4material z such as for instance felt or cloth. Thiscover z, as it is kept moist, intensely attracts Vthe insects. f

If a spittoon'plate i is not wanted, it may be replaced by some suitablecap, for instance a wire gauze cap.

A much simpler trap is shown in Figs.'3 and 4. It consists of an outerslanting portion a leading over a smoothly inclined surface a' to adepressed portion b', which is practically horizontal, strewn over withmy paralyzing powder h' and separated -by a rim from the centralcatching space lc containing the bait A still simpler modicationparticularly suitr able for'catching small insects such as, for .in-

' stance,v ants is that shown in Figs. 7 and 8 where the area ortrough-like depression b strewn over with my paralyzing powder h and thearea lc' receiving the bait f are both parts of the catching space k.Instead of the'bait a scented liquid preparation may be usedv forcatching trapswith circular outlines, while plan views suitable to iitcorners or edges are shown inFigs. 6

-I wish it tobe understood, however, that my invention-is not limited toany particular outlines ivlliliech may also be elliptic, square, oblong,or the 'I'he paralyzing powder, to be `used in connection with the trapsaccording to my invention.' consists, broadly speaking, of an extremelyiine our of such substances as Portland cement, chalk,` gypsum, lime,talcum, dextrin and the like which are either hydroscopic or, at least,easy to be wetted, i. e. hydrophil. Excellent results are ob tained witha ilour of such a composition passing through a sieve with 4000 meshesper square centimeter. Mixtures of two or more such substances areusually more eillcient than the single components.-

A still more efilcient paralyzing powder may -be obtained by ilrstgrinding the substances in ques, tion, moistening them with water orwith av watery, sticky solution, drying the dough thus obtained andgrinding it again to the extent mentioned above. e Under the microscope,the particles of such a powder display a spongy structure.

In making the dough the water may be replaced at least partly by a'watery solution of waterl glass (alcali silicate).

In addition to the above ingredients, the par lyzing powder may containavouring and sweetveuing substances in order to render it moreattractive for insects.

I claim: 1. yAn insect trap for the use of paralyzing insect powder,comprising an upwardly inclined side wall adapted to permit theinsectsto pass over same, an open troughlike section for the reception andretention of a paraly'zing powder, a

4smoothly inclined surface connecting the top of said upwardly inclinedside wall with said section, and a catching chamber having steep wallsand being surrounded by said section. I

2. An insect trap for use of paralyzing insec powder, comprising an`-upwardly inclined side Awall adapted to permit theinsects to pass oversame, an open trough-like section for the reception and retention of aparalyzing powder, a smoothly inclined surface connecting the top ofsaid upwardly inclined side wall. with said section, and a centralcatching chamber having steep Y walls, said catching chamber beingsurrounded by said section and designed to recive a bait.

3. An insect trap for the use of paralyzing insect powder, comprising anupwardly inclined side wall adapted to permit the insects to p ass oversame,

lan at least approximately horizontal l section adapted to receiveI andto retain a para@ lyzing powder, a smoothly inclined surface -connectingthe top of said upwardly inclined side 1 wall with the said paralyzingsection and a central catching chamber designed to receive a bait.

4. An. insect trap for use in connection with paralyzing insert' powdercomprising an upwardly inclined side wall of a type permitting the insects to pass over it, means to keep said upwardly inclined side wallmoist, a catching chamber 'surrounded by steep walls, an inwardly curvedportion leadingfrom the top of said upwardly inclined yside wall intosaid catching chamber and including an 'at least approximatelyhorizontalparalyzing section adapted -to receive and retain a paralyzing insectpowder, and a. bait receptacle l in the middle of the trap.

5. An insect trap for use in connection with paralyzing insect powdercomprising anI upwardly y inclined side wall of a type permitting theinsects to pass overit, means to keep said upwardly inclined side wallmoist, a catching chamber surrounded by steep walls, an inwardly curvedpor` tion leading from thetop of said upwardly in clined sidewall intosaid catching chamber and including an at least approximately horizontalparalyzing section adapted to receive and retain a;

r, paralyzing insect powder, abait receptacle inthe middle of the trap,a spittoon dish arranged on V top. of said bait receptacle, the freespace between said inwardly curved portion and said dish'hav- -ing aheight of about 1 centimeter.

BALTHASAR JENNERIcn.

